Heavy metals and radon content in spring water of Kosovo

Smiljana Marković,Jovana Nikolov,Boban Đokić,Nataša Todorović,Biljana Vučković,Ljiljana Nikolić-Bujanović,Anja Jokić,Sanja Mrazovac Kurilić

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-67371-1

Smiljana Marković, Jovana Nikolov + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67371-1

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Abstract

Paper presents results of researches carried out on various locations and immediate vicinity of mining and industrial activities of the northern and south-eastern part of Kosovo. Concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, Rn-222, as well as temperature and pH values of natural spring water were measured at 15 measuring sites (that belong to Zvečan, Leposavić and Novo Brdo municipalities), in April–May and September–October 2019. The quantification of heavy metals’ content was performed by applying ICP-OES method. In analysed samples a high content of As, Pb, Fe and Ni was found. Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks due to the content of heavy metals in water were evaluated. Concentration of radon in water was measured by the alpha spectrometric method, and measured values range in the interval from 0.34 ± 0.12 to 341 ± 35 Bq/L. The yearly doses of inhalation and ingestion were determined for the measured concentrations of radon. Mutual correlation by the Pearson correlation coefficient, principal component analysis, cluster analysis and spatial distribution analysis of the researched parameters of sampled water were done. The most expressed mutual dependence of some heavy metals leads to the conclusion that they have the same anthropogenic origin.

Highlights

Paper presents results of researches carried out on various locations and immediate vicinity of mining and industrial activities of the northern and south-eastern part of Kosovo
Temperature and pH value affect the concentration of heavy metals, so at lower pH values (4–7) and higher temperatures the release of metals from mineral grains is more intense[8]
Temperature of water was measured with digital thermometer (Testo Se & KGaA, Germany), while pH value was measured by using a pH-meter

Summary

Introduction

Numerous epidemiological studies have shown that the presence of radon in the surroundings is considered the second most important cause of the lung malignity (right behind the long-term exposure to tobacco smoke)[9,10,11,12] It can be taken into organism in two ways: by inhalation and ingestion. The aim of this paper is to determine the presence and to find out the content of heavy metals and radon in samples of natural spring water at 15 measuring sites from rural areas, at three municipalities: Leposavić, Zvečan (northern part of Kosovo) and Novo Brdo (south-eastern part of Kosovo), as well as to determine their potential risk for people’s health in the researched areas. Central place to this municipality is the Novo Brdo mine, which is rich in lead, zinc, silver and gold minerals[16,17]

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